Buyers' Price Perception at a Flea Market—An Informal Look

Abstract

Monroe ( 1973) cautions sellers against heavy reliance on the assumption of the existence of a srrong inverse price-demand function. Keiser and Krum (1976) display the misleading nature of two-priced retail advertising. Potter (1979) shows that in one particular situation, patronage selection of shopping centers, price is not the primary determinant of buying. To examine this grouping of related thoughts, one pattern of consumers' impulse buying, at a booth in a Metropolitan New York area flea market, was noted. Observations were made of the effectiveness of the seller's standard pricing practice used during periods of brisk demand for a standard novelty item. This routine called for a temporary quotation for quantity to be added to the regular per unit price whenever, (a) large numbers of potential customers clustered about the booth, (b) the buying became fast paced, and (c) the surroundings turned turbulent-$1.50 for one or three for $5.00, which is the reverse of what one would normally expect. All information on price was provided verbally in response to queries or in general announcements. Ten such periods were observed over approximately 3 mo. The intervals noted, a convenience sample, all lasted about 10 to 15 min. In each of the periods it was noticed that multiple-unit sales outnumbered single-unit sales by almost 4 to 1. However, in two staged replications of the arrangement for quantity pricing, comparable in every other way to the 10 spontaneous periods except for the absence of condirions (a), (b), and (c), all sales were single units. Recognizing the informality of this inquiry, the results tend to (a) support Monroe's warning against assuming the prevalence of a forceful inverse relationship of price and demand; (b) sustain Keiser and Krum's contention that a two-price format tends to distort consumers' judgments; and (c) bolster Potter's finding about the relative role of price in affecting buyers' decisions. Further, and perhaps of more importance, the significance of some of the characteristics of the environment which influence buyers' processing of price information is indicated.